Suicide of Nicola Ann Raphael
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Nicola Ann Raphael (10 September 1985 – 24 June 2001) was a Scottish schoolgirl who died from suicide after enduring years of
bullying Bullying is the use of force, coercion, hurtful teasing or threat, to abuse, aggressively dominate or intimidate. The behavior is often repeated and habitual. One essential prerequisite is the perception (by the bully or by others) of an imba ...
because she dressed in a
goth A Goth is a member of the Goths, a group of East Germanic tribes. Two major political entities of the Goths were: *Visigoths, prominent in Spanish history *Ostrogoths, prominent in Italian history Goth or Goths may also refer to: * Goth (surname) ...
style. Her death on 24 June 2001 and allegations of bullying at her school,
Lenzie Academy Lenzie Academy is a co-educational comprehensive secondary school located in Lenzie, East Dunbartonshire, Scotland. The catchment area covers Lenzie, Auchinloch and southern parts of Kirkintilloch. Senior management team The school is manage ...
, led to coverage in the local and national press.


Background

Nicola Ann Raphael was born on 10 September 1985, the only daughter of David and Rona Raphael, a civil servant with the Health and Safety Executive in Glasgow. She had two elder brothers, David and Christopher (Christopher's own experiences of being bullied at the school would also later be revealed in coverage). Nicola grew up in
Lenzie Lenzie () is an affluent town by the Edinburgh and Glasgow Railway in the East Dunbartonshire council area of Scotland. It is about north-east of Glasgow city centre and south of Kirkintilloch. At the 2011 census, it had a population of 8,873. ...
and
Kirkintilloch Kirkintilloch (; sco, Kirkintulloch; gd, Cair Cheann Tulaich) is a town and former barony burgh in East Dunbartonshire, Scotland. It lies on the Forth and Clyde Canal and on the south side of Strathkelvin, about northeast of central Glasgow. ...
and attended the local
state schools State schools (in England, Wales, Australia and New Zealand) or public schools (Scottish English and North American English) are generally primary or secondary educational institution, schools that educate all students without charge. They are ...
Millersneuk Primary and
Lenzie Academy Lenzie Academy is a co-educational comprehensive secondary school located in Lenzie, East Dunbartonshire, Scotland. The catchment area covers Lenzie, Auchinloch and southern parts of Kirkintilloch. Senior management team The school is manage ...
.


Bullying incidents and death

Information requested for later legal action found that the bullying allegations went back over three years. Raphael overdosed by taking 40 of her mother's
Coproxamol Dextropropoxyphene is an analgesic in the opioid category, patented in 1955 and manufactured by Eli Lilly and Company. It is an optical isomer of levopropoxyphene. It is intended to treat mild pain and also has antitussive (cough suppressant) ...
pain-killers in the early hours of Saturday 23 June 2001 and then went to bed. Initially thinking her daughter had slept in, Rona discovered Nicola unresponsive and still lying in bed that afternoon. She was pronounced dead the next day.


Reaction

The case is also notable in that it represented an early wave of media coverage of bullying by way of texting/mobile phones. The case was also one of those cited by the '' Daily Record'' in the setting up of their "Save our Kids Campaign." The issue was also raised in the
Scottish Parliament The Scottish Parliament ( gd, Pàrlamaid na h-Alba ; sco, Scots Pairlament) is the devolved, unicameral legislature of Scotland. Located in the Holyrood area of the capital city, Edinburgh, it is frequently referred to by the metonym Holyro ...
by
Lyndsay McIntosh Lyndsay June McIntosh (born 12 June 1955) is a Scottish former politician who was a Conservative and Unionist Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) for the Central Scotland region from 1999 to 2003. After being elected to Holyrood she was ...
MSP: "The minister mentioned children in his opening remarks, so I will channel his thoughts towards youngsters' being bullied. We should think about 16-year-old Nicola Raphael or 12-year-old Emma, who attended Broughton High School, both of whom committed suicide as a result of being bullied at school. I can think of nothing more crucial to the quality of life of our youngsters than that." Shortly after her death, at a concert Raphael was due to have attended,
Marilyn Manson Brian Hugh Warner (born January 5, 1969), known professionally as Marilyn Manson, is an American rock musician. He came to prominence as the lead singer of the band which shares his name, of which he remains the only constant member since it ...
was seen comforting her mother: "Performing in Glasgow last weekend, Manson dedicated his song " The Fight Song" to Nicola Raphael, 15, who overdosed on painkillers two months ago and was buried along with her ticket to the Manson show. After the concert, Manson met the girl's mother. "He was very caring and considerate," Rona Raphael told Scotland's Daily Record newspaper. "I was so touched that this megastar took time out to meet me. Despite all the controversy about him and his shows, he just seemed like a normal man to me...." In June 2003 the story was also featured on ''
Tonight Tonight may refer to: Television * ''Tonight'' (1957 TV programme), a 1957–1965 British current events television programme hosted by Cliff Michelmore that was broadcast on BBC * ''Tonight'' (1975 TV programme), a 1975–1979 British current ...
'': GIRLS AFRAID "A report on the dramatic increase in bullying by girls. " The program interviewed both bullies and their victims and tried to look at various sides of the story. Raphael's mother spoke of what her daughter had gone through as well as whether she thought bullies would ever comprehend the possible consequences of how they acted. The case was also cited as the reason for a Scotland wide spate of legal actions against education authorities due to bullying. "Mr Fyfe believes the recent spate of law suits may have been triggered by the highly publicised suicide of Lenzie Academy pupil Nicola Raphael, who killed herself after being victimised by fellow pupils for her taste in "Goth" music and clothes. Her mother, Rona, is suing East Dunbartonshire Council, claiming that school staff failed to protect her daughter from bullies despite repeated complaints." Raphael's mother believed those who bullied her daughter were continuing their attacks even after the suicide. The anniversary of the death was a particular focus for activity and
Strathclyde Police Strathclyde Police was the territorial police force responsible for the Scottish council areas of Argyll and Bute, City of Glasgow, East Ayrshire, East Dunbartonshire, East Renfrewshire, Inverclyde, North Ayrshire, North Lanarkshire, Renfrewshir ...
investigated thefts and vandalism at Raphael's grave. Later commentary has said that "in many ways the suicide could be read as a grim warning of the strength of hatred that was to lead to
Sophie Lancaster Sophie is a version of the female given name Sophia, meaning "wise". People with the name Born in the Middle Ages * Sophie, Countess of Bar (c. 1004 or 1018–1093), sovereign Countess of Bar and lady of Mousson * Sophie of Thuringia, Duchess o ...
's death".


Bullying review

The
Scottish parliament The Scottish Parliament ( gd, Pàrlamaid na h-Alba ; sco, Scots Pairlament) is the devolved, unicameral legislature of Scotland. Located in the Holyrood area of the capital city, Edinburgh, it is frequently referred to by the metonym Holyro ...
and in particular Brian Fitzpatrick took an interest in the case and joined in the calls for reviews of anti-bullying policies at the school and in East Dunbartonshire as a whole. "MSP Brian Fitzpatrick has welcomed the decision to review the anti-bullying policy at Lenzie Academy, after the tragic death of teenager Nicola Raphael in June." "Following a meeting with Lenzie Academy rector Roddy McLelland, Mr Fitzpatrick also welcomed the plans to improve the existing mentoring arrangements." "He said: It is vital that a consistency of approach should be adopted. I will be pressing East Dunbartonshire Council to ensure that there are clearly delineated responsibilities across the authority for co-ordinating anti-bullying policy. John Simmons, head of education at East Dunbartonshire Council, said: The council made a commitment last month to conduct an authority-wide review of the systems in place in all schools to deal with allegations of bullying."


Organ donation

After Raphael's death, her organs were donated. Her family also were involved in
National Health Service The National Health Service (NHS) is the umbrella term for the publicly funded healthcare systems of the United Kingdom (UK). Since 1948, they have been funded out of general taxation. There are three systems which are referred to using the " ...
(NHS) organ donation campaigns and were later featured in a 2005
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board ex ...
TV documentary on organ donation entitled ''Life on the List'' where they met a young boy named Jack who was one of the recipients. The ''Life on the list'' documentary was broadcast widely and won a Peabody award that year. Her heart was frozen and able to be used over three years later to save the life of a toddler. Although Raphael had carried a
donor card Organ transplantation is a medical procedure in which an organ is removed from one body and placed in the body of a recipient, to replace a damaged or missing organ. The donor and recipient may be at the same location, or organs may be transpo ...
for several years hospital staff did not ask the family about donation. Instead Raphael's mother had to approach staff herself to make sure her daughter's wishes were carried out.


Stop bullying campaign

After Raphael's death, her friend Ashley and others including her family were inspired to create an anti-bullying website/campaign to highlight the extent to which bullying goes on. "Last month, Ashley took a further stand against bullying when she went online to offer advice and help to other victims of playground torment. She set up a website and email address and invited bullied children too afraid to tell an adult to write in with their experiences. She has been inundated with messages and now intends to compile figures from the emails to launch an anti-bullying campaign in a bid to force the Scottish Parliament and her local council to take action. She says: "I was amazed at how many people wrote to me with their stories – and just how many people are being bullied."
Tim Field Tim Field (24 April 1952 in Eastbourne – 15 January 2006) was a British anti- bullying activist with his main focus relating to workplace bullying. He was the author of two books. In 2011, Field and a journalist Neil Marr coined the term " bul ...
was among those who became involved and was one of many who termed Raphael as a victim of bullycide.


See also

*
Bullying UK Bullying UK, formerly Bullying Online, is a UK charity founded in 1999 by journalist Liz Carnell and her son John. The charity's website was redesigned and relaunched in 2006 with a large amount of new information to help pupils, parents and sch ...
* Discrimination of subcultures *
List of suicides attributed to bullying The following is a list of suicides attributed to bullying — both in-person and via the Internet (aka cyberbullying). For a list of people who died from suicide, regardless of reason, see List of suicides and List of suicides in the 21st ce ...
*
Mental health in the United Kingdom Mental health in the United Kingdom involves state, private and community sector intervention in mental health issues. One of the first countries to build asylums, the United Kingdom was also one of the first countries to turn away from them as ...
*
Youth suicide Youth suicide is when a young person, generally categorized as someone below the legal age of majority, deliberately ends their own life. Rates of youth suicide and attempted youth suicide in Western societies and other countries are high. You ...


References


External links

*
Life Daily article



Herald Scotland Article

Herald Scotland Article

Herald Scotland Article

the stop bullying website set up following nicolas death (presently experiencing hosting problems)
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Raphael, Nicola Ann 1985 births 2000s in Glasgow 2001 in Scotland 2001 suicides Bullying and suicide Deaths by person in Scotland Discrimination in Scotland Drug-related suicides in Scotland Goth subculture Lenzie Youth suicides